I should really be in bed, but tonight was one of those nights where something caught my attention. The internet then proceeded to suck me in while I searched on a topic.
Tomorrow, I am planning to go to the Hill to see a Kerry v. Gingrich discussion. I am not going for the discussion as much the participants, but this is not my reason for staying up. Because I was going to be on the Hill, I decided to ask my uncle David if he would like to have lunch. Then tonight, I got on a little spree of Googling him.
David is a veteran Hill reporter. I admittedly have read little of his work because I don’t peruse the Wall Street Journal much, but if I see a link to an article with his name, I always read it. David is a classic “Rogers.” Fairly reserved, very bright, and a hard worker. I rarely discuss politics with him because honestly I know far too little to have an intelligent conversation. I don’t think he really realizes this, but :shrug:.
It is just interesting to do some Googling on him. For example, just this year I have found the following two articles.
Source
Majority Leader Boehner apparently made some digs at Hill Reporters in his speech at the Congressional Correspondent’s Dinner.
Boehner took another dagger yesterday when he ran into The Wall Street Journal’s David Rogers in the Speaker’s lobby just off the House floor.
Boehner, who ridiculed Rogers’s wardrobe in his speech Tuesday, told Rogers, “You don’t look any better a day later.”
Rogers shot back, “You’re not any funnier.”
A DC Blog seems to be a little obsessive over David’s Wardrobe
Thank Heavens that FishbowlDC is recognizing just how totally hot local reporters really are, because The Hill Newspaper is out with its annual 50 Most Beautiful People list today and only two reporters made it on the list (sorry, David Rogers): Fox News reporter Megyn Kendall and Voice of America’s Peggy Chang.
and hair.
It is not all laughs, hair, and clothes for David. In February, he called a Senator for not doing his homework
Source
Reporter dresses down DeMint on knowledge of resolution
In a move that raised eyebrows last week, David Rogers, a political reporter for The Wall Street Journal, publicly questioned Sen. Jim DeMint’s (R-S.C.) knowledge of a bipartisan Iraq war resolution introduced by some of his colleagues.
The resolution, introduced by ranking Armed Services Committee member Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), and cosponsored by Sens. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Carl Levin (D-Mich.), disagrees with President Bush’s troop surge but supports vigorous operations against al Qaeda in Anbar province.
In a press briefing of GOP senators who disagreed with the resolution — they included DeMint, John Cornyn (R-Texas) and David Vitter (R-La.) — Rogers pointedly asked DeMint, “Did you read the resolution?”
DeMint, who looked embarrassed, replied that he read the summary of the resolution. Other reporters began to snicker. But Rogers didn’t let up. In a classroom moment, he lectured DeMint on the contents of the resolution.
And as it happens, there is no summary of the three-page resolution. What Rogers may not know is that DeMint was referring to an inner-office summary of all the competing resolutions that his aides had prepared for him.
DeMint’s aides expressed to bystanders that they considered Rogers’s questioning a cheap shot but would not say anything on the record. “We decline to comment,” said DeMint’s spokesman, Wesley Denton.
A Senate Republican aide who attended the press conference remarked, “It’s a reporter’s job to ask tough questions, but continuously interrupting a senator’s response is rude and inappropriate regardless of how long you’ve been covering Capitol Hill. His behavior definitely raised a lot of eyebrows among those who were there that morning.”
Rogers, however, had little to say about his nervy behavior: “Mr. DeMint has not complained to me about my question,” the longtime Capitol Hill reporter said.
David really should write a book when he retires. He would likely want to write on something regarding Vietnam (he is a Veteran and definitely appreciates Veteran legislators, i.e. McCain). I think the stories he could tell about Congress would be fascinating. There are few people with his knowledge about the inside workings of Congress. He may not want to because he is someone who doesn’t like the attention or and definitely doesn’t like the inside beltway baseball. Unfortunately, he doesn’t seem like the type to do this.
Before I go to bed, I have one good David story. When I was in High School, I came to DC for a Conference. They let us loose on the Hill for a few hours. I had prearranged to meet up with David. It was the summer after 9/11, so security was tighter. Instead of having me wait in line with all other visitors and staffers, David took me to a side door of the capital and got a security guard to let us in. He then took me up to where his desk was in a press room, slapped a press intern sticker on me, and off we went. He took me to right outside the House Chamber, the Senate Appropriations room, and he asked who I wanted to see. One of my choices was Gephardt, the minority leader at the time. David then took me to his office and asked if he was available. The staffer there checked, and she said it would be just a minute. David then whipped out of his pocket a scrap of cloth that he called a tie, did a Windsor knot, and just sort of chuckled that he had to look presentable. We then went in; Gephardt knew David, and then spoke to me for a bit about the Cardinals and SLU. It was an absolute thrill for me. (We later went to see Senator Bond, but David said that the Senator probably wouldn’t want to see him, and we parted then, which was slightly humourous).
Over the past three plus years, I probably should have made more efforts to see David. He has never been unwelcoming to me, and I will probably regret not making more of an effort. Just hope he will be free for lunch tomorrow.